More than 800,000 students across the UK received their A-level results today, with Northern Ireland, England, and Wales all seeing a rise in top grades. In Northern Ireland, the proportion of A*, A, B, or C grades reached a record high outside the pandemic era, mirroring trends in England and Wales.
Nationally, 28.3% of entries were awarded an A or A*, up from 27.8% in 2024 and above the pre-pandemic level of 25.4% in 2019. The A* rate rose to 9.4%, also higher than last year and 2019. The overall pass rate (A* to E) increased to 97.5% from 97.2% in 2024.
Boys outperformed girls in top grades for the first time since 2018, with 28.4% of boys' entries receiving A or A* compared to 28.2% for girls. Boys also extended their lead in A* grades, with 9.9% versus 9.1% for girls.
STEM and business subjects continued to grow in popularity. Mathematics remained the most popular subject for the 12th consecutive year, with 112,138 entries, up 4.4%. Business studies entered the top five for the first time, replacing history. Physics rose from ninth to sixth place.
Regional disparities persisted, with London achieving the highest proportion of A or A* grades (32.1%) and the North East the lowest (22.9%). The gap between these regions widened to 9.2 percentage points, the largest since 2010. Henri Murison of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership highlighted these “significant and deep-seated regional disparities.”
